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Graveminder series
Graveminder by Melissa Marr. — This is essentially a stand Alone novel with a connected short story. Genres and Sub-Genres Romantic-Horror / Dark Fantasy / Paranormal Suspense / Urban Fantasy Series Description or Overview A decade ago, following the deaths of her sister and stepfather, Rebekkah Barrow left Claysville, her beloved grandmother Maylene and Byron Montgomery, the man both she and her sister loved. To say that Claysville is unique is quite the understatement, and keeping it safe requires a unique partnership between two families. For much of her life, Maylene Barrow has been the town’s Graveminder, tasked with taking care of the dead. Maylene’s partner in this duty is William Montgomery, the Undertaker. When an unexpected evil is let loose and Maylene is killed, Rebekkah returns to Claysville only to learn she has been designated the new Graveminder. To stop a monster, Rebekkah and Byron must accept hereditary roles they never dreamed existed. ~ RT Book Reviews No one ever really leaves the small town of Claysville. Most folks are born, live, and are buried there, and those who move away nearly always come back before they die. In this creepy (but romantic) horror story, Byron Montgomery and Rebekkah Barrow both left Claysville for a few years, but both felt a compulsion to return. Byron recently came back to help his father in the family undertaking business, and early in the book, Beka comes home for her grandmother's funeral. Beka's grandmother, Maylene, was found dead in her kitchen, seemingly bitten and mauled by an animal, but strangely, the local sheriff doesn't plan to investigate the "accident." Whenever he thinks about it, he gets a migraine headache. Byron and Beka ask a lot of questions, but get no answers from anyone as more bloody bodies accumulate, and a mysterious, hungry teenage girl roams the town. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction: Melissa Marr: "Graveminder" Books in Series Graveminder series: # Graveminder (2011) Shorts, Novellas, Anthologies and Guides *1.6. "Guns for the Dead" in Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy (2011) Anthology, (2014) eShort *1.6. "Guns for the Dead" (2013) ebook Other Series by Author Wicked Lovely series World Building Setting Claysville Places: * shadowy-dangerous land under town, Supernatural Elements ✥ The dead, Hungry Dead, master of the dead, , , Glossary: * Hungry Dead * Undertaker * Graveminder 'Groups & Organizations': * World ✥ In Claysville the lands of the living and the dead are closely accessible to one another. Under the town lies a shadowy, dangerous land ruled by the arrogant Mr. D (aka Charles), master of the dead. It is up to Byron and Beka to return some hungry dead to their proper destination and to make peace with their new roles in life. Protagonist ✥ Beka is the step-daughter of Maylene Barrow's son, so she isn't really Maylene's blood relative, but the two developed a close relationship over the years. ✥ Maylene frequently took Beka with her on her regular visits to the town's many cemeteries, where she sprinkled a mysterious liquid on the graves from a silver flask and whispered, "Sleep well, and stay where I put you." If you take that quote and match it up with the book's title, you can figure out what Maylene's role is. Maylene attends every funeral and makes the rounds of all the graves, over and over again. Beka believes that her grandmother does this out of the kindness of her heart, but when Beka returns to Claysville, she learns that Maylene's motivation has always been much more complex. If Maylene didn't mind the dead, they would rise again—and be very hungry. ✥ Beka's relationship with Byron began when he was her sister's boyfriend back in high school. Although Beka and Byron were attracted to one another, he already had established a romantic relationship with Ella, so when Ella committed suicide shortly after she glimpsed Byron kissing Beka, Beka felt, and continues to feel, such a level of guilt that she has never been able form a relationship with Byron, even though they have always loved one another. Byron is determined to be a part of Beka's life, no matter how small that part may be. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction: Melissa Marr: "Graveminder" Book Cover Blurbs ✤ BOOK ONE—: "No one builds worlds like Melissa Marr." - Charlaine Harris "Welcome to the return of the great American gothic." - Del Howison, Bram Stoker Award-winning editor of Dark Delicacies "A deliciously creepy tale that is as skillfully wrought as it is spellbindingly imagined." - Kelley Armstrong Anyone who adores dark fantasy, horror, and paranormal suspense is going to love Graveminder, a hauntingly atmospheric tale of the walking dead - and the living who are charged with keeping them at rest - from Melissa Marr, the New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series. A young woman returns to the rural small town of her adolescence only to discover it is cursed ground bordering the land of the dead in this spectacularly imagined supernatural tale that will appeal to fans of Charlaine Harris, Joe Hill, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Neil Gaiman, and Carol Goodman. ~ FF